COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIONTraditionally, there are a lot of rules when it comes to brewing great beer. The fact that American craft brewers have broken those rules to produce some of the world’s finest beers is downright heroic. At Goose Island we live and die by hops, so breaking the rules meant pushing the hop limit to the extreme to create this monster Imperial IPA. We took three of our favorite hops, TETTNANG, SIMCOE, and CASCADE, and balanced their spiciness with tons of malt. Them we went back and dumped in MORE HOPS and more malt until this beer was exploding with flavor...strong enough to wake the dead and filled with more bitterness than a woman scorned. This Imperial IPA is absolutely gigantic, you’ll smell the hops from about a yard away. What will surprise you is how incredibly drinkable it is. Pair it up with the saltiest blue cheese you can find, and go nuts.

On tap at Pinocchio’s. Orange, amber pour, head and lacing apparent. Huge hoppy nose. Lots of all different hop flavors...very complex. Herbal, resinous hops dominate, with plenty of pine and citrus. Plenty "spicy". Good beer but a tad too herbal for me.

Pours an amber color with a full bouquet of flowers emitting from it. Taste is crisp but distinctly bitter. The full hops taste overpowers this beer, leaving it all on the palate after the swallow. A mild clove and lasting bitterness in the aftertaste. A good Imperial IPA, just not my style.

A double IPA for a fortnight and a day #12...
Light amber color with mild head and not very carbonated. Of course very hoppy aroma with citrus notes. Very smooth. Initial bitterness gives way to great flavor that quickly diminishes. A bit spicy also. Not too heavy on flavor and it sits a little lower on the palate than I like

Draft to taster. Looks good; a semi-transparent deep orange with thin foamy off-white head that dissipates into sticky lacing. Smells solid; hoppy with a fairly big pale malt backbone. Tastes like it smells with a nice, smooth mouthfeel. Good beer.

On tap at Bricks. Pours orange with a tight khaki head that fades to a wispy film and collar. Aroma has resinous pine some herbal nots and malt. Taste is bitter earthy pine hops caramel malt and a very calm warming finish. Palate is medium slightly gritty and dry.

After all these years I finally find this on tap and in South Dakota of all places, and what do you know it appears to be fresh. Pours clear dark orange with a white head and nice lacing. Aromas of grapefruit, tropical fruit, pine, and resiny hops. Flavors of grapefruit, loads of pine but in a good way, little bit of orange and pineapple, firm hop punch of bitterness, and nice little malt backbone to keep her honest. Loads of tongue buckling bitterness in the finish. This is a great DIPA. I thought this was going to be an old school malt bomb, but I am impressed. I remember this being in sixers, or maybe it was 4 packs, for $18 back when I first started getting into craft beer and thinking who would spend that much on beer. To think I found it for $6 a pint is a bargain by today’s standards. To look back and think what I thought was unreasonable then in regards to prices is unbelievable. Getting a little waxing poetic now.

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